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The Redirection Megatrends

Learn about gamification strategies, experiential trends, and more in the Redirection module. Redirection is a Pattern of Opportunity that focuses on refocusing your product or service in the eyes of the consumer, enabling you to go above and beyond regular expectations within your industry.

Redirection encompasses the megatrends of Gamification, Experience, and Tribalism. Among these Megatrends is the common theme of focusing not on the product or service itself, but what surrounds it: a sense of community, the memory using it will create, or any additional incentive -- tangible or otherwise. Learn how to surprise and delight your customer in this module.

Implications - With the understanding that most consumers seek out memorable experiences they can then share through social media, brands are carefully curating sensory-packed spaces that cater specifically to that desire. Through elaborately immersive visual merchandising that sparks emotions within consumers, the modern retail environment has found a way to adapt to the highly competitive digital space by playing into it.

Trend - With experimental shopping spaces increasingly common, some brands in the retail space are prioritizing mixed-reality experiences for their consumers. This new conception of how purchase journeys can be designed shows how brands can enhance engagement, particularly Millennials and Gen Z.

Trend - The use of augmented and virtual reality in the promotional exhibits of designer brands is on the rise, allowing for distinct mixed-reality experiences for customers. This shift comes as luxury fashion houses recognize the need to better adapt to contemporary purchase habits, in order to attract Millennial and Gen Z consumers.

Workshop Question - How could your brand incorporate mixed-reality technologies into its promotions?

Trend - Brands in the hospitality space, particularly hotel brands, are incorporating Virtual Reality programs and benefits into their offerings in order to enhance guests' experience. The use of VR technology in this way enables hospitality brands to accelerate the already-immersive nature of travelling.

Workshop Question - How could your brand enhance its product/service or campaigns through the use of VR?

Implications - There has always been a very distinct divide between physical and online casinos due to the lack of atmosphere only available in the brick and mortar setting. With the utilization of VR, brands now have the ability to bridge that gap by creating immersive experiences targeting specific audiences.

Trend - Brands within the cosmetic and skincare space are adopting artificially intelligent capabilities into their retail spaces in order to better personalize the experience of their customers. This shift speaks to the increasingly deliberate and customized nature of self-care.

Trend - Brands showing their products are turning to mixed-reality technologies in order to elevate the experiences their customer has at the events they curate. These technologies allow for more immersive visitor experiences and create more interactive forms of engagement.

Trend - One of the more unlikely applications of VR is brands in the food space using it for lessons and food-related experiences, with everything from live-cooking sessions to visual sampling shows for customers to take part in. The use of VR in the food space allows for brands to engage customers that may be too distant to tangibly test their offerings, and provides a uniquely immersive experience for curious consumers.

Workshop Question - How could your brand incorporate VR into its campaigns?

Trend - Combining the in-person purchase journey with the comfort of ordering from home, retailers are incorporating shoppable VR ads and videos into their campaigns. For the most part, these unique campaigns are testing the functionality and potential of purchasing via virtual reality.

Workshop Question - Conceptualize a shoppable VR platform that your customers could use in their homes.

Implications - Virtual reality is becoming a conduit for accessibility, particularly as it relates travel. The use of virtual reality as a means of exploring the world particularly appeals to consumers with limited mobility, whether for financial or medical reasons. This use of virtual reality highlights how technology is being used to keep consumers connected to the larger world.

Workshop Question - What are the changes that virtual reality is having on your industry and/or brand?

Implications - Tech and stage theater are merging to form unique, immersive experiences that incorporate elements of virtual or augmented reality. Such experiences cater to consumers seeking both tradition and modernity in their consumption choices, with immersive AR or VR theater events helping to bridge the two to form entirely new environments.

Workshop Question - How could your brand leverage elements of AR and VR for its products, services or campaigns?